Keeping Secrets
by LoveandLearn
Summary: Mark is keeping a secret from Addison and Addison is keeping a secret from Mark. Warning: Very high on the fluff meter.


Mark sat down patiently and exhaled a breath to calm himself. He cracked his knuckles and sat there in silence watching as his 3 year old daughter watched him. He restrained the urge to pull his own hair out and repeated himself for what he thought was the thousanth time. "No, you can't tell her, Nat. That's why it's a secret."

The dirty blond haired, blue eyed little girl imitated her father sigh. She climbed up onto his lap and threw her arms around his neck, knowing that he was frustrated with her but he would never lose his tempter if she played her cards right. "I don't know what a secret is." she admitted.

"A secret means we are not announcing it to the world. It means you and I are the only two people to know." he explained. "So you can't tell your mother that we went to Tiffany's. You can not tell her that you got to pick out a ring for her and you can't tell her that I'm going to propose to her. Understand me?"

"What's propose?"

"Well, in gerenal it means when you suggest something. But more people think of it as when a someone asks the person they love to marry them."

Natalie's eyes went wide, she looked into her father's eyes with a smile growing on her face. "You're gonna ask Mommy to marry you?" she exclaimed in excitement.

"Remember when I told you not to announce it the world?" Mark exclaimed. "You're mother is downstairs! I'm was suppose to put you to bed half an hour ago. If she finds out we're still awake than she'll kill us both and we won't have to worry about this proposal."

Natalie pouted and wiggled out of her father's arms and into bed. "Just so you know...I'm only listening to you cause I wanna be the flower girl."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

"Hey, kid." Addion greeted happily when she saw her daughter walk into her office. She was pretty sure that Mark had bribed one of his interns to pick her up from school but she could care less than to call him and scream at him for at. At that second she was thrilled and nothing could bring her down. "How was pre-school?"

Natalie shrugged her shoulders and took out a pack of crayons and a coloring book from her backpack, setting both items down on the magazine table. She sat down and the ground and opened the box of crayons, carefully examining each color to decide which one would be best suited for the picture she had in mind.

Addison got up from her desk and went closer to her daughter, she knelt down beside the table. "If you're planning on coloring Belle than you might wanna start with coloring her dress yellow." she suggested. Natalie looked up from the box and shook her head. "Cat got your tongue?" Addison asked with a smile.

Natalie quirked her eyebrows up in frustration. If she started talking she'd accidently give away her father's secret. So she'd decided to stay as silent as possible.

"Wanna hear a secret?" Addison asked, taking a seat on the couch behind her daughter to watch as she colored.

Natalie turned around and looked up into her mother's eyes. _Not another 'secret.' _She thought for a second, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to know. She she smiled eagerly and nodded her head.

"You're gonna have a baby brother or sister, Nat." she smiled happily and took her daughter onto her lap to give her a kiss. Natalie just stared at her in shock. She still refused to speak but the smile on her face was enough to tell her mother how she felt. "Still not gonna say anything?"

In responce, Natalie shook her head. She pretended to lock her perfectly pinkish-red pursed lips and threw away the key before climbing out of her mother's lap to return to previous task; coloring.

* * *

Addison followed her three year old into the house after what she could only consider the longest day of her life. Natalie ran straight toward her father's open arms but stopped herself from walking into his embrace and stood still. If she was to hug him than he would start talking to her and she would give away her mother's secret. If she was to talk to her mother than she would give away her father's secret. So she was caught in uncharted waters.

"What's wrong, Nat?" Mark asked curiously, seeing her back away from him.

Natalie smiled shly. She didn't answer. Instead she grabbed the TV remote from his hand and changed the channel to watch the episode of Spongebob she'd be anticipating to see for days. Mark look toward Addison who was still standing in the doorway of the living room.

"What's with her?" he asked, walking toward her to give her a soft kiss.

Addison shrugged and looked at her daughter who was now sitting on the couch with the world's biggest smile on her face as she listening the SpongeBob theme song. "She hasn't said a word to me, not a single word." Addison answered. "I even told her a secret, thinking she'd start that excited rambling of hers but still...nothing."

"Ooh... you told her a secret? I told her a secret too. Tell me what you told her and I'll tell you what I told her." Mark bribed suggestively. "And don't try to negoiate it beccause it's the best offer you're getting. I'll buy her a pony and milk your secret out of her."

"I'll buy an actual horse and get your secret out of her." Addison scoffed. "And I'll throw in an ice cream cone while we're at at it."

"I'll take her to the Disneyland in Paris and let her ride her pony from one ride to the next." Mark stuck his tongue out like a little child. "And we'll stop by Italy and eat some gelato while we're at it." he added just to top Addison.

"Mark..." Addison sighed tiredly. "Are we really argueing about this? Because it's really annoying. Either tell me what you told her or drop this conversation."

"I told her I was gonna propose you to you!" Mark yelled. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her I was pregnant!" she screamed back. "We're gonna have another baby."

Suddenly the annoying sound of SpongBob's voice died down. Both Mark and Addison's screaming stopped as they turned to see there daughter watching them with her arms crossed and her brows furrowed together. "It was suppose to be a secret!" she exclaimed. "If you were gonna tell one another anyway why'd you tell me to not tell?"

* * *

Random Maddison muse struck me. I needed something fluffy to relieve the stress of starting college in less than a week.

Wanna click the little button down there and tell me what you thought?


End file.
